Superintendent Quarterly

As we enter the 24-25 school year, and year two for me as your superintendent, you will find many things about our school district that are moving in the right direction. For the purpose of the newsletter, I simply can not list them all, but want to highlight several. I encourage you to attend my next "coffee with the superintendent" held on July 30th at 9am in the boardroom. At the "coffee with the superintendent," we will discuss these items along with others (state accountability) in greater detail. I look forward to seeing you there, and thank you for viewing the Superintendent Quarterly.

As a leader, my philosophy is always to do what is best for the students and the organization. With that in mind, I applied for a grant through the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to partner with TEA, the Center for Effective Districts (CED), and the Region 12 service center. This initiative, called the Texas Strategic Leadership (TSL) is a multi-year process, where we open up our district to TEA, CED, and Region 12 to analyze our district to discover strengths and growth opportunities. This work will focus on analyzing the current landscape of our district and then creating a long range strategic plan focused on enhancing the student experience. I believe that we are here for kids, and I will explore every avenue to ensure that Hubbard ISD is the premier district in Region 12 and the state.

Several months ago, Hubbard ISD partnered with Foundation Innovation to create the first ever, Hubbard Education Foundation. The Hubbard Education Foundation was created to support the educational programs for both the students and staff of the Hubbard Independent School District. I am please to share with you our HEF board of directors: Brandi Birdwell, Pam Cooper, Lyndsey Crump, Lena Cummings, Victoria Fletcher, Keely Gillham, Audri Henderson, LeeAnn Ivy, Katherine Matthys, Kristin McGinty, Sara McIver, Doug Peacock, Shannon Skilling, Monica Umanzor, Mitch Vardeman, Brett King, and myself. This group meets monthly as sub committees (Finance and Government, Development, program, and Marketing and Events), as well as a whole group which is pictured here. It is incredible the time commitment individuals in this community make to ensure that Hubbard ISD is providing the best it can for its students and staff. Please be on the lookout this Fall for communication regarding becoming a donor of the foundation as well as community wide events designed to fundraise for Hubbard ISD!

John Maxwell writes, "All things rise or fall with leadership." Our school board sits atop the organizational chart at Hubbard ISD. Pictured here is the complete "team of 8" which includes me as the superintendent. Having 100% representation at the TASB convention speaks volumes toward the dedication and service each school board member provides. We are in a small percentage of districts across the state that garner perfect attendance at these events. Please thank these individuals for their service and leadership to the Hubbard ISD community.

Second only to the quality of teacher in the classroom is the curriculum used to teach students. Through analysis of the district's curriculum, it was determined that the ES needed to update and vertically align its curriculum to keep up with the changes going on at the state level. This curriculum is extremely expensive, however, through a state grant, we were able to secure not only the material, but professional development for our teachers and staff. I'm so excited to see the impact this will make on our students for years to come.

Mrs. Beseda and the secondary leadership identified AVID as a key addition to the secondary campus for the 24-25 school year. AVID is a program that has been around for over thirty years, which means that it is a program that works. AVID stands for advancement via individual determination. AVID focuses on writing across the curriculum, career and college readiness, strategies for success beyond high school, critical reading strategies, peer tutoring, writing groups, and socratic seminars to name a few components. This program is a multi-faceted program that is school wide as well as an individual elective course. The course is designed to take students an move them toward advanced curriculum and create a college going opportunity. Pictured is the AVID leadership team of Kent Fuller, Mindy Fuller, Dana Gillham, Tina Taylor, and Marcus Simmons. They attended a multi-day training in Dallas this summer and are ready to implement these strategies right away.

I hope after reading the Superintendent Quarterly you are as optimistic about the future of Hubbard ISD as I am. Please find the registration information for your students as we are excited to see them this August. Go Jags!